We've received several angry e-mails from readers who have tried to contribute comments only to be informed that the comment section is closed well before the 72-hour open period. The truth is that the comments section for any entry we make will always stay open for 72 hours but after a little technical snooping, we've learned there are some snags in the system – depending on the browser you use.
Michael Rosellini, one of the technical wizards who built PE, says:
When the blog was developed, just like any other part of CBSNews.com, it was tested for compatibility with the most popular browsers of our usership. These are Internet Explorer 6.0, 5.5 (PC Only), Firefox (PC and Mac), Netscape version 7 and up (PC and Mac). On these browsers, all the features of blog should work as intended. On some older versions of these browsers, versions we no longer support, one of the documented bugs was that the comments area is always closed no matter what time it is.Our "supported browser" list, used for testing, is based on the fact that it encompasses 99% of what our usership is on, what CBS.com supports, and in addition, fits most industry standards.
For the 1% of our users that are on old platforms, such as old versions of Windows with old versions of Internet Explorer, or old versions of AOL, etc., certain parts of the site, like the blog comment area will not work.
There really isn't much of a way around this. As new browsing technology develops, we take advantage of that when coding the site, unfortunately for some, that means the site won't function properly in older browsers. It just isn't feasible to design a website to work in everything and anything. It's a careful balance of considering new technology, industry standards, and what our audience is already embracing.
Please contact us if you encounter this problem with a browser that is supposed to support it. In other matters, we're pleased to announce that certain words have been liberated from the "banned" list in the comments section. That's right, you may now feel free to use the following words without fear of the dreaded *&%$: gay, gays, lesbian, darn, knob and sex. But use them nicely, please.
There are many words, most of them obvious, that remain banned from the comments section and will not register there without those pesky symbols. We do seek to keep the discussions somewhere remotely near the level of appropriate public discourse. But we were as curious as some of our readers as to why some of these words were not allowed.
The list of banned words is not something we devised. In fact looking at the list raises questions of who has the kind of time and imagination to compile it. As best we can tell, and we're still digging, it is a common list used for such purposes all over the Web. We have discovered it came to us from Sportsline.com, where it is used on their message boards.
In that sense, it may be judicious to ban words like "gay" (although nothing explains "darn"), but for the purposes of our discussions, it seems a little silly. So rest assured, there is no nefarious plot to keep you from using these words. But you still can't use Meyer's first name, and that's the way I like it.
House Keeping: Closed Comments And Forbidden Words
/ CBS News
We've received several angry e-mails from readers who have tried to contribute comments only to be informed that the comment section is closed well before the 72-hour open period. The truth is that the comments section for any entry we make will always stay open for 72 hours but after a little technical snooping, we've learned there are some snags in the system – depending on the browser you use.
Michael Rosellini, one of the technical wizards who built PE, says:
Please contact us if you encounter this problem with a browser that is supposed to support it.In other matters, we're pleased to announce that certain words have been liberated from the "banned" list in the comments section. That's right, you may now feel free to use the following words without fear of the dreaded *&%$: gay, gays, lesbian, darn, knob and sex. But use them nicely, please.
There are many words, most of them obvious, that remain banned from the comments section and will not register there without those pesky symbols. We do seek to keep the discussions somewhere remotely near the level of appropriate public discourse. But we were as curious as some of our readers as to why some of these words were not allowed.
The list of banned words is not something we devised. In fact looking at the list raises questions of who has the kind of time and imagination to compile it. As best we can tell, and we're still digging, it is a common list used for such purposes all over the Web. We have discovered it came to us from Sportsline.com, where it is used on their message boards.
In that sense, it may be judicious to ban words like "gay" (although nothing explains "darn"), but for the purposes of our discussions, it seems a little silly. So rest assured, there is no nefarious plot to keep you from using these words. But you still can't use Meyer's first name, and that's the way I like it.